


blue curtains

by colorfuldreams



Category: The Witchlands Series - Susan Dennard
Genre: F/M, Fluff, modern au i guess?, ryber converting kullen to read a book, six of crows mentions, soft vibes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 13:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20046775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colorfuldreams/pseuds/colorfuldreams
Summary: Ryber has been trying to convince Kullen to pick up a book for the past, well, forever but every time she asks, he has an excuse ready. Last time, he said he had finals and the time before that, he had a group project and on and on and on. Well, looks like excuses can't save him this time.





	blue curtains

**Author's Note:**

> this was a prompt request by @/youlovemeade from tumblr! the very first one i ever got lol and i finally answered it.

“Come on, Kullen, it’s a really good book,” Ryber pleaded with him, as he swiveled around in his desk chair to face her, head already shaking no. Ryber sighed, as her shoulders sagged. She’s been trying to convince him to pick up a book for the past, well, forever but every time she asks, he has an excuse ready. Last time, he said he had finals and the time before that, he had a group project and on and on and on. “I’m not going to give up, Kullen. The more vigorously you shake your head no, the more annoying and persistent I’ll be.”

“I’m not reading, Ry. Each time I pick a book, I just get flashbacks to english class where they made us overanalyze everything. Some times, when an author says the character has blue curtains, it just means they had blue fucking curtains!” Kullen quipped back, his face contorting as he remembered his last english class in high school.

“I promise, this book is good and since you’re no longer in class, you don’t have to write any essays or anything! It’ll be fun, I promise.”

“Are you sure?” Kullen questioned her, still not fully convinced.

“Okay, I’ll make a deal. If you read Six of Crows, I’ll watch a full season of Game of Thrones” Ryber sighed, eyes closed as Kullen’s face brightened and he let out a squeal as he spun around in the chair. He’s been trying to convince her to watch the show for as long as she’s been trying to convince him to read. The show never interested her and it had a lot of incest and she’s really not for that. _Whatever gets him to read, I guess._ She’s happy about this victory though. Giddy, she gets up from her place on their bed and walks over to the bookshelf, pulling out her prized copy of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows and hands it to Kullen, leaving him to begrudgingly dive into the book. _I’ll win him over, just wait._

The next day, Ryber walked into the apartment to find Kullen sprawled across the couch, the book in his hands as he’s attentively reading. She tilts her head slightly, watching him read, watching him pour his full attention into the book he holds. She walks into the living room, smirking, still watching him read as she sits down onto the armchair across from him. 

“Enjoying the book, I see” she says as she picks up her own book she was currently reading.  
“Shh… Leave me alone” he replies, not looking up from the book, annoyance tainting his words and face. Ryber raises her eyebrows as she shook her head and started to read her own book. A silence envelopes the room as they read. But she can’t focus on the book, as she sneaks glances over the top of her book, watching Kullen’s face react to the events of the book. He gasps when the story surprises him and all his emotions are displaying on his face, and it’s like Ryber falls for him all over again. 

The day continues on with Ryber doing her daily work and chores around the house as Kullen is still enveloped into the story, enraptured in the heist. He even reads while he’s eating dinner, silence replacing the conversations that they share. Ryber doesn’t mind, as long as Kullen’s enjoying the book. Plus, each time she goes to interrupt him from his reading, she stops because she’s never seen Kullen so at peace yet so enraptured in something before. So, on the silence continues onto the next day. Even when Ryber left for work the next morning, she just kissed his forehead and he said goodbye in the softest voice, still not pulled from the story he’s reading. 

The silence is broken when she comes back from work that day.

“Ry, how could you do this to me?!” Kullen yells at her, outrage on his face.  
“What? Is the book that bad? I thought you would enjoy it,” She squints at him in confusion. She’d never expect that he’d hate reading this much.   
“No, it’s great! That’s the problem! How can you not tell me it ends in a cliffhanger?!”  
Suddenly, she breaks out into laughter, throwing her head back because _Oh my gods, is that why he’s so mad?_ She laughs and laughs and laughs, slowly crouching onto the floor because she can’t stop, laughing so hard that her eyes get watery.  
“How could you laugh at my pain? How could you do this to me? Please tell me you have the second book,” Kullen pleads, his face begging as he looks down at her on the floor. She looks up at him with the widest grin ever.  
“Is that all? I have the second book in the shelf!” she exclaims, grinning wider and wider at him, realizing that she won, she got him to read a book. And from then started the reading marathon, making reading together in their living room in silence a beloved tradition.

**Author's Note:**

> a/n: i finally answered this! sorry for the incredibly long wait! i think this was the first ever prompt i ever received and i’m sorry for the year long wait for this! anyways, this is actually a semi true story, bc i, like ryber, had to convince my book nerd boyfriend to read six of crows lol. anyways i hope you enjoyed and my asks are open for more prompt ideas!


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